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Eagle County authorities think the same four people who robbed jewelry stores in Vail last year are responsible for a similar heist at Portofino Jewelry in the Riverwalk shopping center in Edwards recently.

Investigators say two couples came in together and then separated. While one couple distracted the store employee, the other couple snatched $30,000 worth of jewelry from a display case.

A man and woman in Colorado Springs are accused of taking the open house experience too far, police said.

Over the past two weeks, on two occasions, the same couple was seen at real estate open house showings in which jewelry ended up missing, police said. The pair drove a dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee to and from the homes and police obtained a license plate number to track down the suspects.

Elizabeth Craig, 42, and Sean Spears, 25, were arrested Sunday after police traced a license plate to the pair, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department blotter.

A bookkeeper accused of stealing $760,000 from a Boulder company is booked in Jefferson County Jail after police arrested her on suspicion of a felony theft charge.

Michelle Lynn Shelton, 40, is accused of stealing from her employer, Highline Financial.

Boulder police obtained a warrant on Friday for her arrest, and investigators located Shelton at her Westminster home later that day.

Boulder detectives launched their investigation in December 2010 after another accountant, who was filling in while Shelton was off from work, discovered what appeared to be a large amount of money being transferred to two separate personal bank accounts, according to police.

GREELEY — A Phoenix truck driver accused of a carjacking and other crimes has been charged with 32 counts, including attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Scott Walker, 47, is being held on $2 million bond. He was arrested Dec. 28 at a Greeley-area home where authorities say he smashed through a gate with a stolen cable-TV truck and burst into the house.

A 7-to-8 foot tall Blue Spruce was cut down this week in Denver’s Ash Grove Park, presumably by someone who wants it for a Christmas tree, according to Mike Swanson, forestry superintendent for the city of Denver.

“I kind of get ticked off,” said Swanson, who admits to getting a little emotional when vandals cut down trees in Denver city parks. “It is pretty senseless.”

Swanson said it takes 5-to-6 years for a Blue Spruce to add two feet in height – from 6 feet to 8 feet – in Denver’s dry, high altitude climate.

And it costs the city about $330 to replace Blue Spruce which is valued at $500 to $600 by the time it reaches 8 feet tall, said Swanson.

“This is supposed to be a season of giving, but they (the thieves) are actually taking away from the park district,” said Swanson.

The thieves used a handsaw to cut down the Blue Spruce at Ash Grove Park, which is located at South Holly Street and East Mexico Avenue in southeast Denver.

It probably took them up to half an hour to cut the tree and then drag it to a car or pickup, said Swanson.

Swanson said a second tree was cut down at Lindsley Park, East 12th Avenue and Dahlia Street.

Each year around Christmas, vandals cut down 2-to-4 Blue Spruce or Conifers in Denver city parks for Christmas trees, said Swanson.

Swanson said that the trees will be replaced eventually but the city is facing a “tight budgetary climate”.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help in identifying two men involved in an attack last Friday on a Walmart store employee.

The attack took place at the Walmart at 13240 W. Coalmine Ave. when three shoplifters left the garden center pushing a shopping cart containing stolen merchandise, according to Mark Techmeyer, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

The Walmart employee attempted to stop the trio when the merchandise in the cart triggered an alarm as they left through a store exit.

One of the men hit the employee in the head, knocking him face-first into the shopping cart and onto the ground, said Techmeyer. The employee was seriously injured.